A hysterical comic book spoof straight from the 1940's, this is very similar in many ways to "Raiders of the Lost Ark", and I wonder if Spielberg might have seen this and taken a few ideas from it. That film wouldn't be a blatant rip-off because there is so much different, but there are so many things in the format that you can't help but wonder. In fact, there's a snake like green mist that appears out of nowhere, just like the spirits that come out of the Ark at the end of "Raiders". While "Raiders" is played with good humor mixed in with the advehture, this is definitely played for total farce, starting with the native man climbing up the Empire State Building with the green snake tattooed on his chest, falling off the building in a hysterical manner and screaming all the way down to a foot before he hits the pavement.

You have to take things like that in this done with a grain of salt, because this is not going for reality in any sense. The character of Doc Bronze (Ron Elys) spends most of his time living in the Arctic, and somewhere there, like Shangri-La in the middle of the Tibet mountains, is a land of greenery so luscious but very dangerous with secrets birds that have to be seen to be believed. There's a cute little piggy that makes appearances throughout the film, and has very funny insults thrown at it when its owner brings it to dinner. The supporting characters are all played to be completely nutty, and even the villains get dices of humor as well.

It works that for the most part outside of character actor Paul Gleason, the cast isn't well-known so their performances seem very natural and you're not distracted by familiar faces. The conclusion does go on a bit too long after the villain is dealt with, and they should have wrapped it up with the Christmas sequence rather than continue on to give an indication that there might be a sequel. But this is a film that has to be seen to be believed, and Elys is great. The film, playing with a great deal of tongue-in-cheek, never stops finding new ways to make the viewer laugh, especially with the theme song based on a John Philip Sousa tune. Stars and Savage forever!

It's 1936. After his father's death in South America, Doc Savage returns from the Arctic Circle to New York City. He and his friends, The Fabulous Five, are attacked by a native warrior who slips off a skyscraper. They set off to solve his father's death. The quest leads to the criminal Captain Seas and a long lost Mayan tribe.

Doc Savage is a pulp magazine adventurer starting from the 30s. He continues into the modern age and this tries to give this character his 30s adventure. The production is not good enough to dress up the outside street scenes to fit the times. There are too many modern locations. It's all rather sad and cheap. It is better off staying away from anything close to modern. It is unwieldy and clunky old style. The lead Ron Ely is a stiff old Hollywood B hero with his bright teethy smile. The special effects consist of glowing cartoon snakes that attack. They're not anything good. This is not campy and fun like Flash Gordon. It certainly doesn't have a good soundtrack. Its backbone is stiff and none of it is fun. It's not even so bad that it's funny. It's just old and stiff and tiresome.

The movie is based on Doc's first adventure, The Man of Bronze, with elements from several other stories. It's remarkably faithful to the source material, unlike so many of the 1970's (and even today) adaptions. From Doc's Fabulous Five (Monk, Ham, Renny, Long Tom and Little Johnny),which would go on to inspire superhero teams and the Hong Kong Cavaliers, to his Fortress of Solitude (which inspired Superman's),Mink's pet pig, Doc's gadgets and more, there is so much taken from the original pulp stories.

The hard part of the film comes from how campy it gets, from patriotic theme songs dedicated to Doc with lyrics telling us how great he is to him having an animated twinkle in his eye. The TV Batman style died hard in Hollywood. Witness 1979's Legends of the Superheroes TV movies.

The movie opens at Doc Savage's (Ron Ely, Tarzan) Fortress of Solitude, where our hero learns his father died under a cloud of mystery. While he looks at his father's papers, a Native American assassin with red fingers and a tattoo of a Mayan god tries to kill him. Doc gives chase, but his would-be murderer falls to his death.When he gets back to his apartment, his father's notes have been destroyed.

Throughout the film, Captain Seas tries to kill Doc and his friends. Of note, Long Tom is played by Paul Gleason, Richard Vernon from The Breakfast Club.

Meanwhile, Doc finds out that his father received a land grant in the interior of Hidalgo from the Quetzamal, a Mayan tribe that has disappeared. Despite government corruption, Mona Flores offers to lead Doc and his friends to the land.

It turns out that Captain Seas is using the Green Death, an airborne plague, to keep the natives under his control (and he also used it to kill Doc's father). Most of the bad guys get covered in molten gold, while the chief of the natives offers the gold and land to Doc, who pledges to use it for the cause of justice.

Unlike other pulp heroes, Doc doesn't kill. He rehabilitates with acupuncture and education, a fact that we see in action as Doc finds Captain Seas and his henchwomen ringing the Salvation Army bell for charity.

As Doc gets back home, he gets a message that he's needed. He rushes out for his next adventure, which was to be titled Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil.

Oh yeah — Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes) shows up here as a coroner!

As helmed by Michael Anderson (Logan's Run, Orca, Around the World in 80 Days),this is a big, bombastic film. It flopped hard when released, though Norma Dent was said to have loved the film. How much you'll enjoy it depends on your love of silliness, John Phillip Sousa and the superheroes of the past. Me? I have a spot in my heart for this film and dreamed of having a shirt like Doc's that would be all ripped and cling to me when I sprung to action. However, I was a chubby six-year-old and had no villains to battle outside of the bullies who routinely kicked my ass. That said, as I grew older, I gave them all acupuncture, forgiveness and education, just like Doc Savage taught me!

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